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The travel industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. Thousands of aircraft are parked due to the low passenger loads, and hotel occupancy in the U.S. and abroad has plunged to historic levels. This has left airlines and hotel groups scrambling to find new income streams in order to secure fast cash. One of these is selling airline miles and hotel points with a discount or bonus — this gives the airline an immediate cash injection as travelers are essentially prepaying for future travel at a discount.
There are several good buy-miles deals going on right now; for example, IHG is selling IHG Rewards points at 0.5 cents per point and Air Canada is selling Aeroplan miles with a bonus for the first time. With miles this cheap, you can save money by purchasing miles and redeeming them for hotel award stays or flights you would’ve otherwise paid cash for. In the case of Aeroplan, a one-way business-class flight to Europe only costs $ 715 if you purchase at 1.3 cents per mile.
We’ll walk you through all of the current airline mile and hotel point sales that we consider a good deal. But first, let’s discuss whether or not buying miles during the global coronavirus outbreak is a good deal.
Should I buy points and miles now?
While these deals sound great on paper, there are a couple of things to consider before taking advantage of these sales.
The first is that buying points and miles makes sense only for certain travelers. It’s much better to earn points and miles for free through travel rewards credit card welcome bonuses. However, buying points and miles during good promotions can make sense for those who have tapped out their credit card options and can get high value from their points and miles. That said, we only recommend buying points or miles when you have an immediate plan to use them; otherwise, you’re left open to devaluations.
But here’s the thing: Now isn’t the time to travel given the state of the coronavirus outbreak. This means that you’re buying miles that you’ll likely use for travel in late 2020 or early 2021. However, there’s no guarantee that travel will be safe by this time, so make sure you understand the cancellation policy of the airline or hotel group you’re buying miles from before you make the transaction.
In addition, many airlines and hotel groups are on rocky financial ground right now. We’ve already seen one major airline go bankrupt — when this happens, your miles could be deemed worthless depending on the outcome of the bankruptcy. To play it safe, only purchase points and miles from airlines and hotel companies that you think will make it through the coronavirus outbreak without filing for bankruptcy or otherwise going insolvent.
With that out of the way, here are the buy-points and miles promotions currently available, sorted by those ending first:
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Current promo: 65% to 100% bonus
- Purchase rate: 1.0 to 1.3 cents per mile (best ever)
- TPG valuation: 1.5 cents per mile
- Ending date: May 13
- Link to buy points
- Details of promotion
Air Canada is running a limited-time promotion where it’s selling Aeroplan miles for 1 to 1.3 cents per point. The sale is running in three tiers, where the first 10 million points sold included a 110% bonus, the next 100 million at a 90% bonus, and anything beyond at a 65% bonus. The first two tiers have sold out, but you can still buy miles at 1.3 cents per mile, which is still 0.2 cents per mile lower than TPG’s current valuation of 1.5 cents per mile.
One of the best ways to use Aeroplan miles is for business-class flights to Europe. These tickets cost 55,000 one-way, meaning that a one-way ticket on United, SWISS or another Star Alliance carrier only costs $ 715 at the 1.3 cent per mile level. This is an excellent deal if you have an immediate redemption in mind for late 2020 or early 2021 and have faith in Air Canada making it through the coronavirus-fueled travel downturn.
Verdict: Good deal for those who want to book cheap business-class airfare on Star Alliance carriers.
British Airways
- Current promo: 50% to 75% bonus
- Purchase rate: 1.58 to 1.84 cents per mile (best ever)
- TPG valuation: 1.5 cents per mile
- Ending date: May 18
- Link to buy points
- Details of promotion
British Airways is offering a 50% to 75% bonus on all Avios purchased through May 18. All British Airways Executive Club members are eligible for the 50% bonus, while the 75% bonus is reserved for those with a British Airways cobranded credit card. We’ve seen a 50% bonus on buying Avios in the past, but the 75% bonus is the most generous sale we’ve seen to date.
You’ll incur huge fuel surcharges if you use your Avios to book award tickets operated by British Airways, so we recommend redeeming them on partner flights. Some of our favorite British Airways partner redemptions include flights from the West Coast to Hawaii on American or Alaska, JAL first-class flights to Tokyo, and cheap flights to Ireland on Aer Lingus.
Verdict: Good value for travelers who plan on redeem Avios with British Airways’ partner award chart.
Alaska Mileage Plan
- Current promo: up to 60% bonus
- Purchase rate: as low as 1.72 cents per mile (best ever)
- TPG valuation: 1.8 cents per mile
- Ending date: May 31
- Link to buy points
- Details of promotion
Alaska Mileage Plan is running a targeted promotion where it’s selling miles at its best-ever rate of 60% bonus, though some members may be targeted for a 40% or 50% bonus. While that bonus rate doesn’t sound as impressive as some of the other offers here, it can be an excellent deal if you use the miles for high-value first- or business-class award ticket. Alaska Mileage Plan has some great international airline partners, so you can redeem miles for top-tier products like Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Emirates first class. Even better, you can get a stopover on a one-way award, so you can see two destinations without paying extra miles.
Verdict: Solid deal for those who know how to use Alaska miles.
American Airlines
- Current promo: up to 100,000 bonus miles and 3% off
- Purchase rate: 1.79 cents per mile (best-ever rate was 1.6 cents per mile)
- TPG valuation: 1.4 cents per mile
- Ending date: May 31
- Link to buy points
- Details of promotion
American Airlines AAdvantage is running a targeted promotion where it’s offering up to 100,000 bonus AAdvantage miles on purchased miles. Depending on how many miles you buy, you can purchase miles for as little as 1.79 cents per mile. That’s not quite as cheap as the best-ever rate of 1.6 cents each we saw in April 2020, but it’s still a solid rate for those who redeem AAdvantage miles for high-value AA and partner awards — some of our favorites include Etihad Apartments first class and Cathay Pacific first class. At just 1.79 cents per point, this sale is a good way to book them on the cheap.
Verdict: Good deal for those that maximize their AA miles for high-value redemptions.
IHG Rewards
- Current promo: 100% bonus
- Purchase rate: 0.5 cents per point (best ever)
- TPG valuation: 0.5 cents per point
- Ending date: June 15
- Link to buy points
- Details of promotion
IHG Rewards Club is back with its best-ever 100% bonus, dropping the price of points to just 0.5 cents each — matching TPG’s valuation. For now, IHG prices its hotels at the same rate for every day throughout the year. That means you can score incredible deals like a Times Square hotel for New Year’s Eve for 50,000 points per night. At 0.5 cents per point, that’s just $ 250 for a hotel in the center of it all. Plus, at this purchase rate, you can book Category 1 hotels for just $ 50 per night. I’d recommend checking the points rates for your upcoming trip(s) to see if you can purchase and redeem points for less than the cash cost of your hotel stay.
Verdict: Great deal for targeted IHG redemptions.
Which credit card should you use?
Most of these buy-point/mile promotions are processed through Points.com rather than by the hotel or airline directly. Unfortunately, that means that you won’t generally get bonus rewards with a card that has a travel category bonus. Some of the best cards that fit this bill include The Blue Business®️ Plus Credit Card from American Express (2x Membership Rewards points on the first $ 50,000 per year; then 1x, giving you a 4% return based on TPG valuation) or Chase Freedom Unlimited (1.5% cash back/1.5x Ultimate Rewards points for a 3% return based on TPG valuation). You can check out our guide to the best cards for everyday spending for additional suggestions.
The only exception to this is buying Aeroplan miles. Air Canada charges all mileage purchases in Canadian dollars, so you’ll want to use a card that both earns bonus points and doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. The Blue Business Plus and Chase Freedom Unlimited both charge foreign transaction fees, so I recommend purchasing Aeroplan miles with the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card which earns 2x miles per dollar spent on all purchases. You can then transfer Capital One miles to airline and hotel partners or redeem them at a fixed value toward travel purchases.
Editor’s note: At TPG, our top priority is providing our readers with the information needed to make educated decisions about travel and rewards-earning strategy. This is not the best time to travel, domestically or internationally, as airlines have cut major parts of their route networks. But we are sharing this information to provide value for future travel once coronavirus concerns have subsided.
